


The Mayor and the Journalist

by musicforlife101



Series: Captain Canary Hiatus Fics [5]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: According to Earth-2 canon, F/M, Fire Chief Mick Rory, Journalist Sara, Laurel is Black Canary originally, Mayor Snart, Mentions of Suicide, Robert Queen is the Green Arrow, mentions of bullying, set about Arrow S2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-18
Updated: 2016-03-18
Packaged: 2018-05-27 13:12:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6286066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musicforlife101/pseuds/musicforlife101
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Investigative journalist Sara Lance was something of a celebrity in her own right. She was notorious for her scathing character assassinations and she took great pleasure in calling out public officials. She called them weak, slow-witted, robots, divas, dictators.</p>
<p>She's been cleaning out Central City's corruption for years, and has decided to investigate Mayor Leonard Snart. They both get something very different than they bargained for.</p>
<p>Late fill for Captain Canary Hiatus Fest Day 6 - Earth 2</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Mayor and the Journalist

**Author's Note:**

> I decided I wanted to not have the Legends team end up in Earth-2 (though I think that would be awesome) and I wanted to do something with Mayor Snart, this resulted.
> 
> It's set sort of around the time of Arrow Season 2, or it's Earth-2 equivalent. And as I figured out, Robert Queen is the Arrow in Earth-2, so I decided to make Laurel the one who was on the boat and became the Canary. Also, I'm apparently only capable of giving Leonard a tragic backstory.
> 
> This was supposed to be much shorter, but it ran away with me and took almost three days to finish. I think it was worth it, though. I hope you think so, too.

“Len, I don’t think this is a good idea,” Lisa Snart said, following her brother around his offices in City Hall.

“It’s an interview, Lisa, not a trade embargo,” Leonard replied.

“An interview with _Sara Lance_ , not some intern from CCPN!”

Investigative journalist Sara Lance was something of a celebrity in her own right. She was notorious for her scathing character assassinations. She exposed celebrities now and again, but she took great pleasure in calling out public officials. She called them weak, slow-witted, robots, divas, dictators. If Sara Lance did a profile on an incumbent in an election year, nine times out of ten they were not reelected. She was a one-woman system of checks and balances.

World Magazine, a US-based publication of high regard, with a strong international circulation, printed most of her pieces. She freelanced to online imprints and local papers often enough, but she never took permanent positions. Being attached to one publication meant taking profiles that were chosen for her, something she unequivocally refused to do. She only published profiles and exposés that she personally fact-checked, and she would not tailor them to anyone’s position. Only the truth was allowed in a Sara Lance editorial.

Leonard sighed, closing the door behind his little sister and campaign advisor, as they entered his office. “I have nothing but respect for Ms. Lance.”

“Have you read any of her editorials, Lenny? She eviscerates people!”

“Yeah,” he said. “It’s awesome.”

“I think you’re missing the point. Lenny, do you know how many political careers she’s ended just in Central City?”

“In the last five years, twelve.”

She made an impatient gesture. “See?”

“She’s been ridding this city of corrupt officials, people I’ve been trying to get rid of since the first time I was elected. I should be thanking her.”

Lisa was getting frustrated. “It’s an election year. You’re playing with fire.”

“No. Playing with fire would be asking her to profile Mick. This is a calculated risk.”

“A risk you don’t need to take when you’re up for reelection!”

He sat at his desk and leveled his gaze at her, the same authoritative look he’d used on her when she was a kid. “I’m doing the interview and that’s final, Lisa.”

 

* * *

  

Sara hadn’t actually interviewed politicians or celebrities in a while. When you had a tendency to ruin their careers, people didn’t really want to talk to you. It didn’t bother her much. Most politicians were liars anyway. But she still made the offer every time she started a profile to at least give her subject the chance to speak.

To her surprise and delight, Leonard Snart, Mayor of Central City, had accepted the offer. She’d never met him personally, but she’d been cleaning the corruption out of his city for years and he’d seemed better than the others. He was up for reelection, so she’d decided to find the truth, whatever that may be, and let the voters decide. It was her usual modus operandi.

It had been a while since she’d been to Central City, a fact that she pondered as her bullet train sped from Star City to Central. She’d been doing so much work in Gotham and in her hometown of Star City these days, to little avail. Even her sister Laurel coming back from the dead to help the Green Arrow fight crime as the Canary hadn’t had the effect they’d hoped. It was a weird time.

Sara picked up her phone and called an old friend in Central City.

“Detective West-Allen.”

“Hi Iris, it’s Sara.”

“Sara! How are you?”

“Oh you know, same as ever. I’m on my way to Central actually. That’s why I called.”

“Oh no,” Iris said, sighing even as she laughed. “Who’s losing their job now?”

Sara laughed. “Maybe no one. I’m doing a profile on Mayor Snart. Could you maybe pull whatever you have on him for me?”

“Yeah, I’ll see what I can do, but you owe me and Barry dinner for this one!”

“Deal.”

Sara had met Iris the same night she’d become her source. Then _Officer_ West-Allen had come to her hotel room with a stack of files and made herself at home at the table. She’d heard Sara was in town writing a piece about a city councilman, and she had wanted to blow the whistle in a way that wasn’t really possible without endangering her job or her husband’s education. Occasionally, Iris would call about a systemic problem she’d noticed, or more often, cases she’d been told to drop because the suspect was an elected official who had assured the chief he had nothing to do with it. Other times, Sara would ask for info and treat her friend to coffee or a meal, depending on the importance of the person and information.

“I’ll be in Central in a couple of hours, and I’m staying at the usual place.”

“Ok, I’ll let you know when I have something.”

“Thanks Iris.”

 

* * *

  

Every time she visited Central City, Sara stayed at Benson Inn, specifically the downtown location with a view of the Luther Corp building and City Hall. It was clean, inexpensive, and had good access to the city’s wi-fi. She checked in early and got straight to work, spreading out all publicly available information she already had on the mayor. Campaign and tabloid photos were spread out among articles, press releases, and proposed legislation. So far, the dirtiest thing about him was his relationship with the city Fire Chief, Mick Rory, if only for accusations of favoritism. It seemed they’d grown up together, but he’d risen through the ranks only slightly faster than his predecessor. Response time had improved over the last three years, according to an independent study, comparing Central with its neighbor across the river, Keystone City.

Sara picked up a glossy photo of Leonard Snart. He was tall, and good-looking, but he rarely seemed to smile. Except in the handful of photos with his sister and campaign advisor, Lisa, or with Chief Rory. She needed to buckle down and cement a few anchor questions for her interview with him tomorrow afternoon. Starting with the bill itself, she began reading about his most controversial act as mayor: defeating the metahuman registration law.

She didn’t stop until someone knocked loudly on her door. A glance at her phone told her it was 8:30 and she had two missed calls from Iris. Her stomach growled and there was another knock at the door. Sara got up to answer it; it was probably Iris.

Her detective friend stood on the other side, looking sharp, and carrying a handful of folders and a paper bag from Big Belly Burger.

“I know you get sucked into work and forget to eat,” Iris said, tossing the bag at Sara and slipping past her into the room. Sara sat cross-legged on the bed and dug into her burger, humming happily. “Barry sends his love.”

“Not annoyed that I stole his wife for the evening?”

Iris shrugged. “He’s still at the crime lab.” Sara nodded absently, munching on a few fries. She’d been hungrier than she thought. “Do you want to know what I found?”

“Yeah, hit me.” She took a long drink from a bottle of water.

“Leonard Snart has been the subject of exactly one investigation. It’s in a sealed juvenile record from when he was fourteen, but I called in a favor and got it unsealed.” Sara gestured for her to continue with the fries in her hand. “He was fourteen and Chief Rory was sixteen. They beat up a kid at school, a sixteen-year-old boy. Neither was ever charged because the investigation revealed that they were protecting another freshman, who was being bullied. He later died.”

Sara swallowed. “The victim or the bully?”

“The victim. He committed suicide eighteen months later.”

“Because of the bullying?”

“Seems that way. It’s listed as an accident, but there are several eyewitness statements that swear he stepped in front of the bus on purpose.”

She bit her lip. That wasn’t where she’d expected this investigation to go. “Anything else?”

Iris held up a few file folders. “A handful of incident reports from his twenties where he, Chief Rory, or Lisa Snart hit someone. Mostly him or Rory decking someone who wouldn’t leave Lisa alone.”

“So he’s protective of his sister.”

“Yeah,” Iris said with a soft chuckle. “No charges pressed in these cases, except a fine for drunk and disorderly against one guy who wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

“This isn’t going to be one of my standard ‘roll into town, expose the corrupt politician, and leave’ profiles is it?”

“Fraid not. Looks like you’re going to have to flex those journalistic muscles this time.” Sara rolled her eyes fondly, wadding up her trash and stuffing it in the bag.

“So, what’s your opinion of him?”

“As a mayor or a person?” Iris asked, leaning back in her seat.

“Both.”

Iris considered her words for a long moment. She had a good investigative mind from being a detective and a strong journalistic sense from her college courses and internship with CCPN. Sara trusted her opinion.

“I think he wants to protect people, but not at the expense of others.”

“When he shut down the metahuman registration law.”

“Yeah, he spoke at the precinct about it. He argued that it was unfair to invade the privacy of every metahuman, that we would be treating them all like criminals when some of them are actually trying to help, like the Flash.”

“And as a person?”

“He’s always seemed a little detached, cautious, maybe kind of cold.” She paused. “No, maybe controlled is better. Like he’s willing to take risks to serve a purpose, but he wants to choose those risks carefully. I’ve never spoken to him one on one, but he’s come to speak at the precinct several times.”

Sara considered this. “He has a good relationship with the force?”

Iris nodded. “Most of us, yeah. He can’t stand Floyd Lawton, though. It’s icy at best whenever they’re forced to interact.”

“Why does he hate Lawton?”

“Lawton was really outspoken in favor of metahuman registration. He made a few unfortunate criticisms of the mayor. The distaste is definitely mutual.”

Sara nodded. “I should let you get back to your husband.” Iris smiled. “Tell him I said hi.”

“I will.”

“And thanks for the burger.”

“You’re welcome. We’ll get a real dinner before you leave.”

“Damn straight.” Iris grinned. She squeezed Sara’s shoulder and slipped out.

Sara called the front desk to set up a wake up call, and then grabbed the first interview Leonard Snart had ever given as mayor and a recent policy article. She curled up on the bed and began to read.

 

* * *

  

The next morning, Sara woke up to the ringing phone, her arm tossed over her files on Mayor Snart. She ordered room service for breakfast and went to take a shower.

While she munched lazily on her oatmeal Sara went over the mayor’s vital statistics one more time. He’d been in office more than seven years, just finishing his second term. His father had been killed in action during the War of the Americas, leaving him to take care of his mother and sister while he was still in high school. His sister managed his reelection campaign. He was single and had never been married.

Sara had a late lunch at Central Café, the same place she ate every time she was in Central City. It was right across from City Hall and just down the street from the main courthouse, so it was the perfect spot for inconspicuous surveillance. Plus, they made a great chicken Caesar wrap. She sat by the picture window, as usual, and watched the comings and goings across the street. Lisa Snart, who Sara recognized from photos, left and returned with a large paper bag. Probably lunch for her and her brother. A handful of other vaguely familiar players, councilmen, administrators, and the like, came and went.

At a quarter to two, Sara made her way across the street. She cut a striking figure as she crossed the front courtyard in her slim cut black suit and tall heels. It was intentional, something she’d done on interviews for years. At first, it was to combat her nerves, make her look more imposing than she felt, and then it became habit. Today, it was a bit of both. She was a little anxious for this interview, maybe because it had been so long since she’d done one.

The security guard at the front desk searched her bag and waved her through the metal detector. From there, she walked into the main lobby where Lisa Snart was waiting for her, looking a bit less than pleased. It wasn’t obvious, but this wasn’t Sara’s first rodeo, and enough people were wary of her that she knew the expression. She smiled politely at Lisa all the same. Wary wasn’t a problem, but actual dislike could hinder any follow-up she may need.

“Hi I’m Sara Lance, you must be Ms. Snart,” she said in a cheerful voice.

Lisa startled just slightly. “Yes, good afternoon, Ms. Lance. If you’ll follow me, I’ll take you to my brother’s office.” She turned, walking off at a brisk pace and expecting Sara to follow.

Nothing to lose, Sara tried for honesty. “You didn’t want him to take the interview, did you?” It wasn’t really a question.

“What makes you say that?”

“I have a reputation. I know the look.” Sara smiled crookedly.

Lisa stopped short of the door. “My brother has worked hard to get where he is. He pulled himself up, even though he was taking care of me and our mother. I don’t want to see some trumped up journalist come in and take that away from him.”

“Do you know why I ask for interviews with the subjects of my profiles?” Lisa shrugged slightly. “I want them to have a chance to be part of telling their story. Your brother has been mayor for many years. And I’ve been clearing out city hall of every rat I could find, and he hasn’t said a word. I’m curious. I think there’s a story here, but I don’t know what it is. I don’t come into a city looking for evidence to prove someone is a liar or corrupt or a weak leader, Ms. Snart. I come in with a clue and I go looking for the answer. Sadly, the answer is usually that someone is a liar or corrupt or a weak leader.” Sara frowned.

But Lisa regarded her anew. She hadn’t realized before just how young Sara Lance was. She seemed less jaded and more idealistic with her fresh, young face staring back. And maybe the intent was the difference. Lisa tried a small, but genuine smile, and stepped forward to open the door.

Mayor Snart’s secretary, a slim brunette with a severe haircut, pressed the intercom and announced Sara’s arrival. Within moments, Leonard Snart stood in his open office door, looking dapper in a dark grey suit, blue shirt, and even darker blue tie. He smiled, which was a very pleasant sight in person. He reached out his hand and she shook it.

“Leonard Snart, it’s a pleasure to have you here. Please come in, Ms. Lance.” She followed him into his office with a smile. His warm welcome was a pleasant surprise. “Please, have a seat,” he said, gesturing to a set of antique leather sofas and a mahogany coffee table. He took a seat on one sofa, at the corner where they met and watched her set up. She arranged her tablet on the table so it’s microphone would capture both of their voices and started the recording.

She gave her name, and the date, time, and location in a clear voice before turning to face him directly, mirroring his position on the adjacent sofa. “Mayor Snart, thank you for agreeing to this interview.”

He chuckled. “I should be thanking you Ms. Lance. You have been ridding me of corrupt officials for years.”

“Speaking of, why was _I_ the one to do that, rather than your administration?”

“It was not for lack of trying, I assure you. Working through strictly official channels, it was nearly impossible to remove some of the more entrenched members of the city government, like former Judge Greyton. I knew he was corrupt within a month of taking office, but I had no recourse to remove him, until you came along and forced his resignation. You’ve exposed several officials that I had already attempted to remove through proper channels.”

That wasn’t what she was expecting, but it wasn’t really unexpected either. “Glad to know I could be of service. Now, you’re one of the very few elected officials I’ve met in the last few years who have completely pulled themselves up, and you did it all while supporting your family. Can you tell me about that?”

Leonard leaned heavily on his elbow on the arm of the sofa, though he didn’t look uncomfortable. “My father left for the War when I was ten. He was happy to be away from us. And my mother was angry that he had left, though she was never upset about the pay. He was killed when I was fifteen. The day he died their relationship became perfect. And that was the day she started drinking away his pension.” Sara leaned forward. This was a lot more personal than she usually got in interviews. “I went out and got any job that would take me, just to be certain Lisa never went hungry, always had clothes and shoes and a roof over her head.”

“You graduated and went to Central City Community College,” Sara said, leading.

“Yes, 4C was a good place. With grants for children of soldiers who were K.I.A., I could afford my classes and still take care of Lisa. And I was top of my class. Then I transferred to Central City University. Lisa wanted me to apply to other schools, maybe something out of state, but I needed to stay here for her.” Sara nodded, gently encouraging him to continue. “I had to take out loans at CCU, even with the grants, but I could keep my job.” He paused for a moment and rubbed his jaw. “Mom died my last year, and then it was just me and Lisa.” He paused again. “It’s horrible to say, but it was easier after she died. Lisa was still a minor so we still got Dad’s pension, but Mom wasn’t drinking her way through it.”

“You practically raised your own sister.”

He shrugged. “All we ever had was each other.”

“When did you decide you wanted to be mayor?”

“I don’t think I did until maybe a year before I was elected,” he said, surprising a smile out of Sara. “It just seemed like the natural progression. I was working in the court clerk’s office and there were no good candidates. Lisa said I would be a better mayor than anyone who was actually running, so I decided to run myself.”

“That was just it? There were no good candidates?”

He looked down at his knees, a little blush crawling up his neck. “Well, the frontrunner was the biggest liar I’d ever seen. I couldn’t subject my city to him.”

“You wanted to protect the city.” He nodded once. “Can we talk about the young boy you were protecting your freshman year of high school?”

To his credit, Leonard didn’t look over at the tablet like his wished it wasn’t recording, he didn’t look away in shame, like most of her previous interviewees would have. He looked up at her, cocked his head to the side like he couldn’t quite puzzle her out, and nodded.

“Teddy. I knew him because our dads were both away at war. Javier told him that his house must be fully of women because Teddy definitely wasn’t a man. He beat on Teddy almost every day, until the day he did it in front of me and Mick.” He smirked just a little. “He didn’t hit Teddy after that, but he wasn’t the only bully in the school.”

Sara leaned toward him across the arms of the sofas, just enough to be a presence. “And then he died.”

“Yes. Shortly after my father did.” The mayor’s shoulders drooped for a moment, like the world on them was a little too heavy. “Teddy’s death will haunt me for the rest of my life. He was the first person I felt like I failed. It wasn’t my responsibility to save him, but I had chosen to anyway.” He paused, taking the time to look her right in the eye. “So I suppose I decided to save Central City instead.”

She was so caught up in his expression in the moment that it took her a bit too long to remember that she was leading the interview. She directed it back to safer topics, touching only briefly on his stance on the metahuman registration bill, as he’d made his views quite clear in other publications. Then she finished with his relationships with the fire and police departments.

He seemed pleased to chat about the improvements he wanted to make, the joint metahuman task force they were instituting, their ongoing work with STAR Labs, and even the new crime scene investigator apprenticeship program overseen by Barry Allen. She didn’t bother to mention that she was friends with Barry and his wife.

Before they knew it, the clock on his desk began to chime 5 o’clock and the end of her interview.

“Thank you again for agreeing to be interviewed, Mayor Snart. It’s so difficult to get real interviews with my reputation.” He smiled at her, watching as she turned off the recording and packed her tablet away.

“Ms. Lance, if you’ll still be in town, we are having a cocktail party and silent auction to benefit the Central City Police and Fire departments on Saturday evening. I would enjoy seeing you there. You can observe another side of Central City for your editorial.” The invitation was so careful and without obligation.

“I would like that. I have friends in the police department as well, so I imagine they will be attending.”

“I would assume so,” he replied. “I’ll have Lisa send you the details tonight.”

She stood and he walked her to the door, opening it for her. “Thank you again, Mayor Snart.”

“Leonard, please, I think we know each other well enough by now.”

A crooked smile curled up Sara’s lips. “Sara,” she responded. “You’re right, we do.”

“See you Saturday, Sara.” She waved and was gone.

Lisa walked into his office minutes later. “How bad was it?”

He glanced up at her. “Not at all, actually. A bit more personal than I think either of us expected. Can you send her the information about Saturday?”

“You invited her?”

“Yes. She said she has friends in the police department.” That wasn’t the reason, but it would do.

His sister dropped into the chair across from him. “Are you sure about her?” The question wasn’t accusatory. Something in her tone when she talked about Sara Lance had changed from that morning and Leonard couldn’t put his finger on what it was.

“No other reporter has ever earned the real answer to why I decided to run for mayor.” He shuffled a few papers until he came upon a photocopied news article. “I did some research on Sara before she came. Almost seven years ago, her sister sailed off on a yacht with her fiancé, Oliver Queen, and his father, Robert. Her sister’s fiancé was confirmed dead when his father returned eighteen months ago, and her sister was presumed dead until she returned to Star City six months ago.”

“So she’s spent most of the time her sister was missing trying to fix problems in other cities?”

“Perhaps because she couldn’t save her sister, or Star City.” He straightened the stack of papers and pushed it to the side. “Either way, she deserves our respect, and a little bit of trust.” Lisa nodded, a little smile pulling up the corners of her mouth. She would let her brother believe that he was the one to convince her.

 

* * *

  

Iris was ecstatic that Sara was coming to the party on Saturday, though she had been initially very worried about her friend’s wardrobe. Sara assured her that she always traveled with a cocktail dress in case of emergencies, which put her mind to rest, letting her go back to being extremely excited. It had been a long-standing complaint that they never did anything fun when Sara came to town because she was always working. Sara didn’t have an argument for that, because it was true, and she had a stack of unkept promises that they would do something fun next time, when she wasn’t running to her next job.

As the party wasn’t for another two days, Sara took the time on Thursday to transcribe the interview, type up her notes, and work on an initial draft of her profile. She wasn’t sure how much personal detail she wanted to include, how much Leonard would be comfortable with her including. He hadn’t seemed wary of the recording when they’d been talking about his childhood, but she knew people’s minds changed, they thought about something for a while and realized they’d made the wrong choice. She wrote it in, because it was easier to just remove it, and made a mental note to ask on Saturday.

On Friday, she dug deeper into her research, even going to the public library and the records office to request more information. She wanted to have a strong grasp of Mayor Snart’s policies and their effects before she was satisfied with the analysis section of the piece. It was a specialty of hers. She wrote a detailed profile with facts and vital statistics, exposing anything important that had been covered up, revealing that a politician was honest, calling out corruption. Then she included an in-depth analysis of the effectiveness of the subject and anything relevant from their profile. The fact sections were enough for the average corruption scandal, but the truly difficult or truly beneficial were really distinguished through her analytical explanations. Her only caveat to pure opinion was her signature tagline, in which she either supported or disavowed the subject of her article.

Iris called on Friday afternoon, startling Sara out of blankly staring at the page, considering her next paragraph.

“Hey Iris.”

“Hey, how’s the article coming?”

“Um, fairly well.”

“You don’t sound very sure of that. Did the interview go alright?”

Sara sighed. “Yeah, that’s the problem. It went better than I expected. I thought he would balk when I brought up the juvenile case, but he opened right up.” She paused. “I thought he was going to be cold.” Iris hummed thoughtfully. “So, what’s up? You called for a reason.”

“Well,” she began, “I know you usually leave as quick as you can, and we’re going to that benefit for the department tomorrow night, so I was wondering if you had time to get dinner tonight.”

“Oh! Yeah, tonight’s good.” She picked up a piece of loose leaf paper covered in her scrawled notes. “Pick a place, my treat.”

“Ok,” Iris said, chuckling at her inattention. She was used to her friend in ‘writing mode’. “We’ll pick you up around 6:30.”

They hung up and Sara went back to working on her article. It was bound to change a bit, bound to end up being longer than she had initially anticipated. Oh well. At 6pm, he phone buzzed loudly beside her hip, jolting her out of a thoughtful stare at the blank space to the right of her cursor. It was Barry telling her that they’d just left and she should probably make sure she was dressed.

Sara had always like Iris’s husband, having met him the second time she was in town. He was thoughtful, odd, and very in love with his wife. They never made her feel like a third wheel when she went to dinner with them or when they invited her over to their house, which was really appreciated. She didn’t live a life that allowed her to have a relationship, not really. She was hardly ever in one place longer than a week at a time, and she was home in Star City even less, even now with Laurel home. But she had friends here and there in the cities she visited frequently; Gotham, Central City, Metropolis, Coast City. They made the job a little less lonely.

She met Barry and Iris in front of her hotel half an hour later and climbed in the back of their car. Iris was driving, as usual. The restaurant they’d chosen, Amarasia Oasis, was only ten minutes from downtown and Sara had heard good things about it on previous visits, but had never been.

“So, you said the interview went really well?” Iris asked once their drinks had arrived. “I mean it must have if he invited you to the benefit.”

“Yeah, he was really…honest, is the only way I can describe it.” She smirked at Iris. “You said he was cold and detached.”

“It depends on the subject,” Barry said. Sara turned her gaze to him. “I mean, I had meetings with him about the new apprenticeship program.”

“He mentioned that.”

“Well, he was very zealous about that project. I had some impassioned conversations with him about it.” Barry shrugged. “He must have cared about the topic.”

“I _did_ ask about his sister.” Barry conceded that point with a vague wave of his hand. “I guess I just didn’t expect him to be so open about his childhood, particularly since it didn’t seem to be a pleasant one.”

“Maybe he just didn’t want it to come out in your investigation. It could look like he was hiding something if he didn’t talk about it,” Iris suggested.

Sara shrugged. “Maybe. It seemed like Le– Mayor Snart was relieved, or pleased, or something, to talk about it. He was just less reserved about it than I expected him to be. I don’t know. Maybe I’m stretching because it’s been so long since I’ve interviewed someone.” Iris and Barry glanced at one another, but didn’t comment.

They moved away from the topic of Sara’s work and into safer areas of conversation. Dinner carried on this way for a long while after their meals had been cleared away. Spending so much of her time digging into corruption and greed and scandal in Gotham and Star City, Sara hadn’t had a lot of downtime for things like this lately. She hadn’t spent much off the clock time with friends in longer than she cared to admit, but Barry and Iris had always been easier that way. They both had all-consuming careers in law enforcement. They understood what it was like to obsess over a difficult to quantify truth. They could go radio silent for weeks and then surface with stories and frustrations, and it wasn’t strange.

She regarded her friends across the table with tired eyes. Living out of a suitcase was obviously starting to take its toll if one dinner with her friends made her this sentimental. Barry caught sight of Sara’s drooping eyelids and signaled for the check. They drove her back to her hotel and dropped her off with promises to see her the next evening. She declined their offer to pick her up before the event. It was an easy walk from her hotel anyway and she had always liked to wander around this area of Central City. She’d spent most of her downtime on her first job in Central just learning the streets and alleys and cafes. She really did love this city.

It was a pleasant change from her last job in Gotham, where even she was uncomfortable out at night sometimes.

 

* * *

  

Saturday morning Sara spent watching cartoons on her hotel room’s TV and eating cereal from room service. It was a luxury she allowed herself whenever possible, if she had to spend the weekend on a job. She’d been doing it for years because it reminded her of growing up and watching Saturday morning cartoons with her sister, and now it was tradition. The afternoon was devoted to reviewing vital information and photos of key Central City public figures, again. She wanted to be sure of who Mayor Snart was talking with and how they got along so she could be accurate in her reporting. Most of them were familiar, but she was nothing if not thorough.

By evening, she was dressed in her black cocktail dress and had curled her hair and pinned it back. She grabbed a shawl and her bag before leaving the hotel. It was a nice night, with just a slight chill, and the walk was pleasant to the Central City Museum, which was hosting the event in one of their nicer spaces. She gave her name to the guard at the door and made her way inside.

“Sara,” a voice called. When she turned toward it, she saw Lisa Snart walking her way, snagging an extra glass of champagne from a passing waiter.

“Hello Lisa,” Sara replied, taking the offered champagne.

“My brother said you have friends who are here?”

“Yes, they’re,” she paused to point out Barry and Iris in one corner of the room talking with the chief of police, “right over there.”

“Barry Allen, with crime scene investigation? Leonard’s met with him a lot recently.”

“I met Barry through his wife, Iris. We met my on my first job in Central City.” Lisa nodded understandingly. Sara looked around, quickly spotting Leonard talking with the chairman of the school board and Councilman Friedberg. He wasn’t smiling. In fact, he seemed very detached from the conversation, and his body language toward them was a little frosty.

“I can walk you over if you don’t feel like interrupting. He won’t mind,” Lisa said, following her gaze.

Sara felt her cheeks color. “I’m just observing.”

Lisa chuckled beside her. “Well, I can tell you what will happen next. Watch for the forced laughter. Len’s going to say something sarcastic in three. Two. One.” Leonard said something she couldn’t hear across the room and the men he was with chuckled uncomfortably. He gave them both curt nods and stepped away. His eyes scanned the room and landed on Sara and Lisa. A genuine smile pulled at his lips and he made his way over.

“Are we playing nice?” he asked, looking at Lisa, who only laughed. “Hi Sara, I’m glad you could make it.”

“Me too, Leonard. I’m learning all sorts of things already.”

He raised an eyebrow, but didn’t comment. “You said you had friends coming?”

She nodded, gesturing to Barry and Iris. “I haven’t gone to say hi yet.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize you knew Barry. Shall we go talk to them?” She led the way, waving to Iris as soon as her friend saw them.

“I didn’t realize this was your emergency cocktail dress, Sara! It’s gorgeous,” Iris said, pulling her friend closer. Sara looked down at her dress. It was something she’d worn a hundred times. It didn’t feel very special anymore, but it was pretty, she guessed.

Barry nodded in agreement and Leonard looked over with a smile. “You do look very beautiful, Sara.” The quirk of his lips told her he wanted to add to that statement, but wouldn’t.

“Um, thank you.”

“You must be Detective West-Allen, please call me Leonard,” he said, reaching out to shake Iris’s hand. “Barry talks about his amazing wife all the time.”

“Oh, please call me Iris. It’s so nice to meet you properly.”

“You’ve attended some of my speeches at the precinct. I recognize you.” Iris smiled widely. “Your husband has been very helpful with some of my new initiatives.” He shook Barry’s hand with friendly nonchalance. Barry launched into an earnest explanation of what they were attempting to do and the opportunities they had felt were lacking. He and Leonard were very comfortable in conversation.

Leonard looked over at Sara, and then glanced over her shoulder and sighed. “Lisa is calling me over, no doubt to talk to someone.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he said to Barry and Iris, who waved him off good-naturedly. “You’re welcome to join us, Sara, but it will likely be very boring. Especially when you could be spending time with your friends.”

“Oh we took her whole evening yesterday, I’m sure she’s had enough of us,” Iris said. “Go ahead, it’ll be good for your article.” Sara looked to Leonard, then Iris, then Barry, and back to Leonard. She nodded and followed him toward Lisa.

They did indeed spend a great deal of time chatting with very boring people, both public officials and various well-to-do society people who wanted to donate to the city and Leonard’s campaign. He spoke to the latter very politely and professionally, but held himself slightly apart. The former he regarded with varying levels of distaste, from neutral dislike to outright contempt. He never spoke sharply at them, but his demeanor became somewhat icy with those he clearly didn’t like.

Sara didn’t speak up much, but Leonard made a point of introducing her to each person they met. They stood listening to a judge and two assistant district attorneys, Leonard fidgeting impatiently beside her.

He leaned down to speak into her ear. “Your next expose.” He lightly gestured toward the judge. She suppressed her smile.

Shortly after the three of them shuffled off, the string quartet in the corner began playing a waltz to open the dance floor.

“I’m sorry, Sara. I promised my sister the first dance. Would you excuse me?” Sara nodded smiling. His relationship with his sister was sweet. And she liked that Lisa was a ballbuster. Sara watched as Barry led Iris onto the dance floor as well and other couples began to join in. She hung back, content to watch.

A large figure walked up and settled in the space beside her. “He’s been talking about you coming to town nonstop for two weeks. It got kind of annoying.” She looked up to find Fire Chief Mick Rory looking down at her with an amused smile. “At least you were worth the hype.”

Sara laughed. “Good to know. I’m Sara Lance.” She stuck her hand out to him.

“Mick Rory. Just Mick.” His massive hand shook hers carefully. They stood there in companionable silence for a little longer. “Are you going to ruin him?”

She looked up sharply. “There something you want to tell me?” Mick looked at her silently. “I didn’t come here to ruin him, you know.”

“That’s what you do isn’t it?”

“I find the truth.”

“Well Snart’s done good for this city.”

The song ended and Lisa and Leonard wandered over to them. Lisa was pleased, but Leonard glanced between them warily. He released his sister’s arm and she stepped forward to hug Mick, who she’d known almost as long as Leonard had. Leonard glanced at Sara and smiled.

“Come on Mick, you owe me a dance!” Lisa said, dragging the fire chief onto the dance floor. He went grumbling, but not really resisting.

Leonard turned to Sara. “Would you like to dance, Sara?” She placed her hand in his and allowed herself to be led out onto the dance floor. They swayed for a few moments before he spoke again. “Why do a profile of me? Why Central City when there is so much that could be done in other cities? Gotham and even Star City have so many problems that deserve attention.” He looked so puzzled.

“Maybe that’s why. I’ve spent so much time there recently and nothing has really improved. One liar is removed and another liar just takes their place.” She paused. “I guess I’ve been wondering if it’s worth trying to save cities that don’t want to be saved.”

“It’s always worth it.”

“You’re a good man, Leonard Snart.”

He smirked down at her. “Most of the time.” Their eyes met and held for a long moment. Then the song ended and everyone broke apart to applaud. “One more dance and then I have to go be mayoral.” She smiled and moved back into his arms.

The benefit and silent auctions were both unqualified success, securing a great deal of funding for innovative new safety services. And Lisa was pleased with the overall positive opinions of the attendees, which was crucial to his reelection campaign. While she was able to spend more time with Barry and Iris, Sara had also gathered a lot of material for her article. It was going to be one of the longest she’d ever written, but she was quickly forming a way to pitch it to the magazine. All she would need was a little help from Lisa.

As the event wound down, and Barry and Iris had hugged her goodbye, Sara searched out the mayor’s sister. “Lisa,” she called. The brunette turned back and smiled when she realized it was Sara. “I need a favor.”

“Alright, what is it?”

“I need photos of your brother. Like campaign photos.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want to cut down the article, so I’m going to pitch it as a major feature, which would need a few pictures.”

Lisa scanned Sara’s face carefully. Apparently satisfied with what she found, she nodded. “Sure, I’ll email you a few of the nice ones. Lenny doesn’t like having his picture taken.” She smiled in a teasing way that only a sibling could pull off.

“Thanks Lisa.” She turned to go, but Lisa’s voice stopped her.

“Will you go find my brother? He was looking for you.”

Her eyes widened. “Uh, yeah, sure.” Lisa smiled and walked off to thank one of Central City’s oldest of old money families. Sara watched her rub elbows with the elite for a moment, and then walked off in the other direction to find Leonard.

He caught sight of her and smiled, walking over quickly. “Sara, there you are. How are you getting back to your hotel?”

“Walking. That’s how I got here,” she said, taken by surprise.

“May I walk you?”

“I – sure, that would be nice.”

“Perfect. Give me five minutes and we can tell Lisa we’re leaving.” Sara nodded. “She knows I don’t like to stay any later than I have to,” he added in a low voice. Then he stepped away to shake someone’s hand and thank them.

Sara stayed where she was, watching the elite of Central City hobnobbing even as they left. True to his word, Leonard was back five minutes later, a hand on her elbow leading her toward the exit, where Lisa was making sure everyone was leaving on a high note. He opened his mouth to speak but she waved him toward the door, smirking very deeply. Sara liked her even more.

The air outside had a slight chill, and Sara slipped on her shawl. “Are you cold?” Leonard asked, reaching for the buttons of his jacket.

“No, I’m okay, thank you.” They walked toward her hotel, Leonard letting Sara lead and set the pace. “The stuff about your past in the interview. Do you have a problem with me including it?”

His brow furrowed. “Anything I told you is fair game. Isn’t it?”

“I don’t usually get that personal with my subjects, unless they’re cheating on their wife.”

“Well, I don’t have a wife, and I wouldn’t cheat on her if I did.”

Sara smiled crookedly. “Yeah. But I don’t give cheaters a choice about including it. This isn’t so clear cut, though. It’s really personal. I just don’t want to include it if you really don’t want me to.”

“You should include it.”

“Ok.” They walked in silence for a bit. “I didn’t realize how much I’d missed this city.” He looked over at her, raising an eyebrow. “I’ve always loved it. Ever since my first job here.”

“Feeling sentimental?”

“Getting tired of living out of a suitcase, I think. I’ve been considering settling down. I just need a base of operations.”

“Central City would be glad to have you,” he said, eyes never wavering from her face. “And we could always use your expertise.”

She smiled. “I’m considering it.”

“Please do.” She nodded and stopped outside of her hotel. He glanced up at the building and then down into her eyes. He took a breath. “I know this isn’t very appropriate, and you’re leaving Central City soon, but I wanted to know if I could take you out for dinner.”

“I do have to go back to Metropolis for editorial meetings, but when I’m back in Central City, I would really like that. Thanks for walking me, Leonard.” She rocked up onto her toes and kissed him on the cheek.

 

* * *

  

On Friday, three weeks after leaving, Sara was on a bullet train from Metropolis bound for Central City, carrying two advance copies of the next issue of World Magazine. Her profile on Leonard Snart was the center feature, which had made her smug and happy ever since she’d convinced her editor. The pictures Lisa sent were perfect, the interview had been amazingly well-received among her colleagues, and her analysis was already being cited by the political writers. She hadn’t told Leonard that she was on her way back, but she’d emailed Lisa, who had promised the have his calendar cleared for the end of the day.

Sara dropped her suitcase at the hotel front desk and mad her way straight to City Hall from there.  Lisa was waiting for her outside of Leonard’s office. She was smiling widely. Sara handed one copy of the magazine to Lisa.

“I assume Public Relations is going to be very happy?”

Sara half shrugged, but she was smiling too. “Yeah, probably pretty happy.”

“He’s in his office; you can go on in. I told his secretary you were coming, but I haven’t told him.”

Sara chuckled, heading inside. The secretary nodded toward the door, and Sara took her cue. She rapped on the wood with one knuckle, then opened the door. Leonard was looking up when she walked in, and she watched the surprised smile stretch across his lips.

“Sara.”

“Hey Leonard. I thought I’d bring you a copy of this,” she said, holding out the magazine, which he took without looking away from her face. “You’re the feature.” His brow furrowed and he glanced down, opening the magazine to the middle. His own face stared back out at him. He flicked through it to the end, not really reading.

“You could have mailed this,” he said, puzzled at the article and the woman standing in his office.

She shrugged. “Thought I might cash in on that offer of dinner.”

His smile brightened and he stood from his desk. “Let’s go then.” He guided her out with a gentle hand on the small of her back, closing the door behind them and leaving the magazine open to the last page of the article.

He wouldn’t be back to read it until Monday. After Sara had confirmed that she planned to move to Central City, after effectively their third date, after he’d decided he didn’t care what it said. Having followed her work for years, he knew once he read it that it held the most ringing endorsement of a politician Sara had ever given:

_The worst that can be said about Mayor Leonard Snart is that he can be cold and sarcastic, and that he always seems to be plotting something. But when he is cold and sarcastic to those poisoning his city, and plotting innovative programs for job growth, it hardly seems like a drawback._

_Leonard Snart, you have NOT failed this city._


End file.
